


Deconstructed

by flynnaw00



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life, half life but the ai is self aware
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, DGAU, Deconstructed Gordon AU, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Video Game Mechanics, glitching, i really don't know how to describe this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25428655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00
Summary: Gordon Freeman is not who the Science Team thought he was. In actuality, he was a hollow model, controlled by an unseen player. But now, the facade is slowly chipping away. Will the Science Team get their friend back?Basically the Science Team sees Gordon for who he REALLY is...
Comments: 25
Kudos: 234





	1. Real ization

**Author's Note:**

> //tw for like... unreality or smthn? body horror too.

It all started a week ago. Coomer had just started to piece together that they were in a video game, and came to Benrey for guidance and to tell him of the ‘shocking’ news. Benrey had known this fact for quite some time, and informed Coomer of this. Coomer, to put it lightly, was shocked. Why didn’t Benrey tell him? Why didn’t they tell the others-- they all deserved to know! Especially Gordon, who had been suffering so  _ much _ in Black Mesa. 

Benrey told him they couldn’t tell the others-- that it would just hurt them, and that if they wanted to get out, they had to believe it was real. 

Coomer and him debated this fact for a long time before Benrey finally shut him down and Coomer angrily went back to the rest of the Science Team. 

It was at the end of the session when it happened: the game was about to shut off, as it always did when they ‘rested’, but Coomer… Coomer didn’t go to sleep like he normally did.

He did something to the games code.

Benrey didn’t know what, and Coomer was just taking a shot in the dark, but their world flashed bright red, white, and green pixels before finally flickering to black. Different than every other time they would ‘sleep’.

Then, the next session began. Things started off… normally. They woke up Gordon, Gordon was kind of pissed, and they began to move forward. As they moved forward, following Gordon, Benrey began to notice that the walls looked a lot flatter than they normally did, the textures were pixelated, and everything was  _ angular _ . He squinted at the details as they walked, and looked around to the rest of the science team. Judging from their expressions, they noticed this change, too. 

Then, Gordon got hit. And instead of red coating his HEV suit, his body seemed to chip away, revealing purple and black squares underneath. Tommy questioned the texture, despite Benrey’s attempts to get him to shut up, but all Gordon said was:  _ ‘Oh? The-- oh, that’s... my shirt! That’s my shirt, guys.’ _

Benrey sighed, knowing it wasn’t true. Gordon’s AI must have been trying to make up excuses for the glitched out texture. Maybe they should just tell the team they’re in a video game… they were all in this together, after all.

Then, he couldn’t move.

The world froze, and Gordon’s now disembodied voice rang out.

_ “Alright, hold on guys-- I think the game is glitching a bit. For some reason a part of my chest is untextured? Let me, um… Let me see if I can get a fix real quick.” _

It was then Benrey and Coomer realized:

_ Gordon was the player _ .

\----

“What’s this about?” Bubby asked, crossing his arms.

They were currently in a secluded part of the facility while “Gordon” was talking to whomever he was talking to, the game not paused, thankfully. “Gordon” had been deteriorating through glitches more often, and now his entire midsection was gone. His top half was completely untextured, and his arms seemingly weren’t necessary anymore, only leaving floating, stiff, hands. A tracking laser came from his eyes, which were blank, flat, textures. Wherever he looked, things would be in more focus, but behind him, things would quickly blur and sometimes vanish. It was frightening, to say the least, and it was a miracle “Gordon” hadn’t figured out they knew yet.

“So, uh, y’know how things have been strange recently?” Benrey began. “Like, how everything’s kinda fucked up and Gordon is… well…”

“Yeah? How could we miss it?” Bubby shot back.

Tommy nodded, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. “It’s-- this is… it’s scary. What’s happening to Dr. Freeman?”

“I’m sorry to say, Tommy, but it appears we are in a video game.” Dr. Coomer explained. “And that…  _ person _ is not Dr. Freeman, but rather, a ‘player’ that is unlike us.”

Tommy gasped, Bubby’s shoulders dropped, his brow furrowing.

“What??!” Tommy whimpered. “B-- but- how-- is… But I’m real! I’m real! I have a dog, and a fa-family and--”

“You don’t.” Benrey said. “Everything’s fake, Tommy. As you can clearly see by--”

“No!” Tommy shook his head. “How could…”

He trailed off, reality, or rather lack thereof, sinking in. He sank to the floor and put his head in his hands. 

“I’m terribly sorry.” Dr. Coomer consoled, kneeling down to Tommy and patting his back. “It was quite a shock for me, as well.”

“... What can we do about it?” Bubby asked. “It’s not as if we could, uh, just become real! No amount of being sad will break us out of… unreality. Or whatever.”

“I know that.” Dr. Coomer said. “However… we could escape  _ this  _ game and live in other worlds!”

“What?” Benrey asked. “Coomer--”

“No, no, I’ve been thinking!” Dr. Coomer said. “If we are computer programs, then we must have files, right? And if we have files, then those files can be  _ exported _ into other games! Think about it! We could live anywhere, any _ when _ , and be any _ who _ we desire!”

“Really…?” Tommy looked up, wiping his eyes.

“That’s fucking stupid.” Benrey said. “We can’t do that.”

“And why not!?” Dr. Coomer fired back. Benrey blinked, surprised at his anger, then sighed.

“The player wouldn’t do that for us. We’re entertainment to him, nothing more. Why would he ruin this game just for us, huh? He doesn’t fuckin’ care.”

“Mr. Freeman cares!” Tommy said. “He- he’s helped us through this whole faci-facility!”

“He’s only helping us because we’re entertainment.” Benrey said. “Every other NPC he leaves behind. He doesn’t care.”

Dr. Coomer nodded. “Maybe so, but what if… We got Gordon  _ back _ ?”

Benrey stared at him. “Huh?”

“Obviously, this player is possessing our dear friend Gordon Freeman!” Dr. Coomer said. “If we can dispel the player, then Gordon has control over all our files and the game itself!  _ He _ cares!  _ He _ will help us!”

Benrey blinked, considering the thought before shaking his head. “How do you know he won’t just turn on us?”

“Well, Gordon is a dear friend of mine! I trust him! Besides, Benrey, what do we have to lose?”

Benrey thought it over before smiling softly and nodding. “Worth a shot.”

“Alright!” Dr. Coomer cheered. “Tommy, Bubby? Are you in this with us?”

“Can I beat up the player once he’s outside of Gordon?” Bubby asked.

“Absolutely, my friend!” 

“Then yes, I’m in.” Bubby smiled.

“M-me too.” Tommy said. “Anything to get back Mr. Freeman.”

Dr. Coomer cheered and put his hand in the center of their circle. Tommy and Bubby quickly put their hands on top of his. Benrey did not.

“C’mon, Benrey!” Dr. Coomer encouraged. “I know you’re not a scientist like us, but you can be an honorary member of the Science Team and replace fake Gordon! Bring it in!”

Benrey gasped, then beamed and put his hand in. They counted to three, lifted their hands up, and then shouted “SCIENCE TEAM!”, the loudest being Coomer.

_ “Where did they go…?”  _

The team froze at the sound of “Gordon’s” voice.

“What’s the plan?” Tommy whispered.

“We lay low and act cool.” Dr. Coomer said.   


“I’m always cool.” Bubby winked.

Dr. Coomer chuckled. “I know.”

Benrey huffed. “Okay, so, we lay low? Then what?”

“Figure out a way to get rid of the player! Determine his weaknesses, what makes him tick!” Dr. Coomer whispered. “Then, we go and hack the game, getting the player out of Gordon’s body for good!”

Benrey nodded. “Alright.”

_ “Oh, there you guys are!” _

The team stood at attention, Bubby and Tommy squeaking in fear as “Gordon” came towards them. 

“Hello, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer greeted, face becoming low-textured for a moment before going back to himself. He looked a bit disturbed after his greeting.

“Hello, Dr. Coomer!” “Gordon” smiled, his eyes dead. “So, uh, what were you guys whispering about?”

“None of your business.” Benrey muttered. “Let’s keep going.”

“Wh- uh, okay?” ‘Gordon’ huffed, watching as they all followed Benrey. He jogged to keep up, moving beside Benrey.

“Do you know where you’re going?” He asked. Benrey sweat, finding it hard to make eye contact with him. 

“‘Course I do, dumbass... We’re going, uh, home.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the end goal, I guess.” ‘Gordon’ said. “But first we’re going to the Lambda Lab, right, Dr. Coomer?”

“Ah, yes, that is…” Dr. Coomer stalled, finding himself getting distracted with ‘Gordon’s’ tracking eye lasers going directly into his eyes. It didn’t shine, nor did it hurt, but it was still odd. “Uh-- it’s… 4 hours from now?”

“Oh, goddamnit.” Gordon groaned, looking ahead. “Man, I really can’t wait until we all can get home, right?”

“... What’s your home like, Mr. Freeman?” Tommy asked.

Gordon thought. “Um… I live in a small apartment, with… my son Joshua! Of course. How about you guys?”

“How old's your son?” Benrey asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Um.” Gordon thought, sweating a bit. He moved his flat palmed hand around his chin a bit, which Benrey assumed would have looked like rubbing his chin normally. “He’s 8! 8 years old.”

“Took you a while.” Benrey grumbled. 

Dr. Coomer shot Benrey in the back of the head, startling him. Benrey glared behind him, and Gordon followed his gaze. Dr. Coomer smiled sheepishly. “Oops! Sorry, Gordon, I get excited sometimes!”

“Jesus christ.” Gordon said, rubbing his temples. “You guys really need to practice trigger discipline.” 

He turned back around, but Benrey did not. Dr. Coomer mouthed to Benrey to ‘keep it cool’ and put his gun back in his pocket. Benrey nodded. As much as he wanted to poke and prod “Gordon” until he broke, they wouldn’t get anywhere with him being suspicious. He could reset them if he thought something was wrong.

They kept walking, mostly silent, through the tunnel. Gordon got more fidgety as they moved along, and would occasionally flip his hand in a way where a screen would show up. It startled the team at first, wondering what exactly that was and trying to get a peek at it, but Gordon would dismiss it soon after it came up.

“... You guys okay?” Gordon asked after a while.

“Just peachy, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer lied.

“Yeah? Why?” Benrey asked.

“You’ve been awfully quiet and… normal.” Gordon noted. “Normally, you’d be all over the place.”

“You complainin’?” Benrey asked.

“Oh!” Gordon put up his hands. “No! No! It’s-- um, nice? But, it’s a bit  _ quiet _ now that… well, we’re quiet.”

“Well, what the fuck are we supposed to talk about, huh?” Bubby snarled. “We’re in a horrible facility, overrun by monsters, clones, and prototypes, with only a few guns to defend ourselves. Not to mention, the fucking military!”

Gordon stared at him. Bubby sweat, gulping and backing off a bit. “...”

“That never seemed to bother you before.” Gordon said. 

Fear passed through the AI’s hearts. Was Gordon suspicious already? 

Gordon smiled. “But I guess that makes sense. I mean, it’s been scary for me, too.”

Benrey frowned as the rest of the AI’s sighed in relief.  _ Liar. _

“Ah, yes…” Bubby nodded. “It’s, er, scary. This whole thing is very scary.”

“I’m scared, too.” Tommy murmured. “...”

“Oh, should we rest for a bit?” Gordon suggested.

“NO!”

Gordon stared at Benrey. Benrey gulped. “Uh, well-- we can-- what if someone comes up on us? We need to-- uh, let’s just go, okay? Uh…”

“Last one to the end of the tunnel’s a rotten egg?” Bubby announced timidly, forcing it out for the sake of appearing ‘normal’.

Immediately everyone ran off, grateful for an excuse to leave Gordon behind for a moment.

“NO! NO! GUYS!” Gordon called. “THIS ISN’T A RACE!!! C’MON, IF YOU’RE SCARED THEN YOU…” His voice faded out as they all reached the end of the tunnel. 

“I win!” Tommy cheered. Dr. Coomer smiled and patted him on the back.

“Indeed you did, Tommy!”

“I’m just glad to be away from that creep.” Bubby shivered. “Seriously, what the fuck? Would it kill the guy to  _ blink _ ?”

Tommy frowned. “Mm... Yeah…”

Benrey sighed and glanced back, hearing the approaching footsteps. “When are we gonna hack him? How could we do it without him noticing?”

“We could knock him out?” Bubby suggested. 

“A brilliant idea!” Dr. Coomer said. “Or wait until he falls asleep.”

“I don’t think there would be enough time between him falling asleep and the game shutting off.” Benrey said. “You won’t get as luck--”

“GUYS!” Gordon called, rounding the corner. As soon as he rounded the corner, three military men appeared and began to shoot at the AI’s. Bubby screamed and ran off, Benrey froze up, Dr. Coomer immediately started to beat the shit out of the nearest soldier while panicking, and Tommy unloaded magazine after magazine into the military men, also panicking.

“Oh SHIT!” Gordon called out. Another screen came up on his hand and he seemed to pull a pistol out of thin air, it floating in front of his palm and fired into the soldiers. Benrey managed to run off and hide, watching Gordon carefully.

Gordon got shot a few more times, chipping even farther away at his model. His hair began to disappear in chunks, his eye textures were shot away to reveal a black bar in front of his eyes, not unlike a VR headset, and the hand that was firing the gun was no longer a hand, but a… controller? There were four buttons on the top, and a trigger down below. The trigger lit up as the gun that was now just floating in front of the trigger fired, syncing with the real life person’s movements. 

Finally, the last soldier fell, and “Gordon”, sighed.

“You guys-- why didn’t you take them out!?” He scolded.

The group stared at him, too shocked by his form to respond.

“... Guys?” Gordon asked. “... Hello?”

“Hello, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer said cheerfully, face low poly, before he went back to himself, frowning. “... Um, well, we su-- you did a good job, Gordon!”

“Thank you?” The black bar in front of Gordon’s eyes scrunched, like he was furrowing his brows. “... Hm.” 

The world froze.

_ Fuck _ . Benrey thought.  _ This was it. _

_ “Okay, guys, I need you to do something for me. The AI might not be as developed as I thought, or the game is glitching. If you see anything unusual, point it out, okay? Or, uh, I dunno, give me a timestamp for later when I upload these. I’m sure I’ll be able to see it then. Thank you!” _

The world unfroze and Gordon smiled, no longer a comforting sight.

“Alright, guys, let’s keep going! I don’t want to increase our Lambda Lab time  _ again _ !”

He motioned for them to come along by his controller just swinging towards the door and ran off.

The AI’s forced themselves to run after him, all scared shitless. Benrey himself even felt a little bit of fear.

_ ‘Who was he talking to? Are they all being watched? Is Gordon part of a sort of hivemind? Are there multiple players? Upload these? What did that mean!?’ _

Thoughts like those continued to run through the AI’s minds as they followed along with him. They came across a moving platform, between a vent they needed to get into, and where they currently were.

Bubby looked at it, let out a deep breath, and glanced back at Dr. Coomer, mouthing:  _ ‘Just do what we normally do. If we act well enough, I’m sure he won’t notice.’ _

Dr. Coomer nodded. Bubby then proceeded to jump onto the platform, cutting off Gordon, who fell to the floor.

“WHAT THE FUCK!??!” Gordon shouted. Bubby winced, but gathered himself and called down: “TOO SLOW!”

Gordon shook his head and grumbled, trying to get back up.

Benrey also stepped onto the platform, unsure exactly how he was going to make any of this fun. Before, fucking around came naturally, but now... it was like he was a jester with a gun to his head and Gordon was a very impulsive king.

Gordon came back up and Dr. Coomer practically teleported over to the vent. “See? Easy, Gordon!”   
  
“Wh-- how!?” Gordon shouted. “What the fuck!!!”

Dr. Coomer’s smile strained and he just backed away into the shadows of the vent. Gordon furrowed his brows again and then glanced at Tommy, who flinched and smiled nervously, eyes darting around for something ‘funny’ to do. He leapt onto the platform and then into the vent. 

“S-see? Easy, Mr. Freeman! I, um, believe in you!” He said, also backing into the shadows to hide from Gordon.

“How is this easy for you guys!?” Gordon said, exasperated. “You must have-- fuckin-- Black Mesa special abilites or some shit-- since Dr. Coomer has his Extendo-Arms or whatever--”

Dr. Coomer sweat, looking down at his hands. He didn’t have that. Why did he say he did?

Gordon tried to cross again, but Benrey blocked him. Gordon facepalmed. “Aw, c’mon, Benrey! Let me through!” He called as the platform moved back and forth.

Benrey shook his head. “Uh, no can do. You gotta-- uh-- show me your… permit.”

“My PERMIT!!??!” Gordon shouted, then laughed. “Oh m-- WHAT PERMIT? THE PERMIT FOR WHAT!?”

Benrey flinched. “Uh, er-- the permit to, uh, c-cross. I’m like a-- a troll at a bridge. Yeah. So pay up.”

“That’s not--” Gordon chuckled, shaking his head fondly. “Okay, fine, I owe you, okay? After we get home, I’ll give you some cash.”

_ Which would be never _ . Benrey thought bitterly. He rolled his eyes and stepped aside, though. Gordon seemed surprised, and then made the jump, landing in with Tommy and Coomer, who backed up.

“YEAH!” Gordon cheered. “I did it! First try! High five!”

He held up his controller.

Tommy sweat, staring at the controller before giving him a weak high five. The controller didn’t fall over like he thought it would.

“Aw, that was  _ weak _ !” Gordon said. “Okay, Dr. Coomer, you go! You’re strong!”

“You bet I am!” Dr. Coomer said, then  _ slammed _ his hand into Gordon’s. His hand phased through Gordon’s controller and a stock high five sound effect rang out. Gordon brought down his controller and shook it off as if it hurt.

“Oh, owch!” He said. “Jesu-- okay, you two need to find, like, a happy middle ground where you give a good, strong, highfive, but not one that breaks my hand.” He chuckled.

“Will do, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer said, smiling uneasily. 

“M-mhmm.” Tommy nodded. 

“Let’s keep moving.” Bubby said, walking past them further into the vent. The rest of the group eagerly followed along. 

As they walked through the winding vents, it wasn’t long until something else strange happened.

From Gordon, but without him speaking, came a voice that wasn’t his. It was muffled, and there was music in the background so it was hard to make out: but what most of the group heard was: 

_ “-- Come back when you’re a little, mm, richer!” _

The entire science team stared back at Gordon, who froze and stared at them. 

“... What?”

“Did you just say something, Gordon?” Dr. Coomer asked.

“No?”

“Oh, that’s odd… I could’ve sworn I heard someone.”

Gordon chuckled. “What’d they say?”

Dr. Coomer shrugged, thinking it wise to be vague, then kept walking. 

A minute later, it happened again, the same way. This time, the team was wise enough not to look back (except for Bubby). They assumed it was something they shouldn’t be hearing. Maybe there was… another person with Gordon? Watching him play? Or a bunch of people? Oh, god, that would be awful.

Then, out of nowhere, music leaked into their world, from what they assumed was Gordon’s. It was upbeat, happy, music, but not so upbeat it ruined the mood completely. 

“The fuck?” Bubby mumbled.

“Huh?” Gordon asked.

“Ah-- nothing.” Bubby said. “... Is-- okay, is that-- what is that?”

Dr. Coomer tried to give him a look, but Gordon walked between them and tilted his head at Bubby. “What’s what?”

“...” Bubby bit his lip. “... T-the music?”

Benrey bore holes in the back of Bubby’s skull. _What the fuck was he doing!!!_

“Music?” Gordon asked, surprised. “... You hear music?”

“Yeah.” Bubby said. “Turn off your phone, jeez…”

Gordon nodded, and the world froze. 

_ “I dunno how, but y’alls music is somehow leaking into the game. I must have it too loud and it’s playing into the mic or something… um... I’m just gonna-- turn it down a bit. I don’t think I can really explain the music. Oh, while I’m at it: let me remind you of the rules of the stream: no music with lyrics and it has to fit the mood, okay? Don’t send me any more Russian cooking videos, I swear to god.” _

The game unfroze.

“Ah, alright.” Gordon said. “Can you still hear it?”

They could, only a little fainter than before. Bubby opened his mouth to answer honestly, but Dr. Coomer gave him a menacing stare and Bubby just shook his head.

“Um, nope!”

“Good!” Gordon smiled, moving ahead. “Let’s go, gang.”

The music shifted into something actually very pleasant to listen to. It was an electro-type beat that kept up the atmosphere of something fun. The team felt a little at ease at the music playing now, even though it still annoyed Bubby.

“Alright, I’m fuckin’ bored.” Benrey said. “How long is this vent?”

“No clue.” Gordon shrugged. “But at least we’re safe. I do  _ not _ want to run into any more military.”

“Same.” Benrey said. 

They exited the vent system and hopped out the other side. There were many tripwires set up, and Benrey, feeling a little more comfortable because of the nice music, decided to do his usual thing and run right through them. He laughed as they went off, some tension finally relieved from the air.

“BENREY, NO!” Gordon screamed, causing Benrey to flinch. 

“YOU IDIOT! YOU-- NO!!! What is it with you guys and running into the BRIGHT BLUE LAZERS!!??!”   


Benrey frowned. “...” Gordon’s yelling used to be funny. But with his new appearance and god-like abilities…

“H-hey, Mr. Freeman?” Tommy asked hesitantly.

“What is it, Tommy?” Gordon asked, turning to him. Tommy gulped, avoiding eye contact.

“Can you please try not to yell? It’s scaring me.”

“Wh--” Gordon blinked. “It scares you?”

Tommy nodded.

“It annoys the fuck out of me, too.” Bubby said.

“I must admit, Gordon, sometimes your anger also… spooks me.” Dr. Coomer said.

Benrey remained silent.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Gordon said. “I guess this is really stressful for you guys, huh? I- well, I mean-- it’s stressful for  _ all _ of us, of  _ course _ .” He chuckled, covering up his mistake badly. “Okay, I’ll try not to yell. As long as you don’t do any stupid shit.”

“Don’t you want us to do stupid shit?” Benrey asked.

“Uh.” Gordon thought. “... N-not anything that will… kill people? Including yourself?”

“That’s practically nothing!” Bubby argued. 

“Ah, alright.” Gordon said. “Just, you guys can figure that one out for yourselves, okay? Let’s all just keep moving.”

Benrey nodded and triggered another tripwire out of boredom. Gordon groaned loudly, but didn’t yell, instead just walking up to Benrey and hitting him. “Fuck you, dude.”

“Thanks, asshole.” Benrey muttered, lukewarm, as Gordon passed by him with the rest of the team. Tommy looked back and held Benrey’s hand, dragging him along and giving him a quick, reassuring, squeeze before letting go. Benrey sighed and smiled, appreciating the comfort. 

The rest of their session wasn’t noteworthy. They were tense around Gordon, as always, but the music helped tremendously. Gordon, when hit, didn’t decay anymore, which was nice. Gordon tried to keep his voice down, but was back to yelling soon enough. Tommy kept reminding him politely, despite this. They progressed.

Then, they came to an empty room and Gordon sighed, “sitting” down (it looked more like crouching and glitching out now) and using the menu to put away his gun.

“Alright, guys, I think we should rest here.”

Fear passed into the AI’s hearts and they all looked at eachother, knowing that in just a few moments, they would be shut off.

“No, no, let’s-- let’s keep going, Mr. Freeman!” Tommy said. “C’mon, we’ve-- it’s hardly nighttime!”

“Yes, Gordon!” Coomer agreed. I believe that we should hurry onto the Lambda Lab! It’ll take us a whole  _ day _ at this rate!!!”

“Yeah, Gordon.” Benrey said.

“Mhmm.” Bubby nodded.

Gordon gave them a puzzled look. “Uh, I dunno why you’re so adamant… don’t you want to sleep?”

“Nope!” Tommy said. “I had too much soda.”

Gordon chuckled. “Uh-huh. Never stopped you before.”   


“Well, I uh-- it built up.”

“Can you see faster?”

Tommy bit his lip, giving Gordon a once-over. “... Yes.”

Gordon gave them a fond smile, but didn’t move. “Sorry, guys, I’m just really tired. We can pick this up tomorrow.”

“Don’t.” Dr. Coomer said. “Please.”

“...” Gordon stared at him. “... Why.”

The cold tone in his voice sent shivers down Dr. Coomer’s spine. “Ah- uh-- well, y-you see... The military might… f-find us--”

“No, I don’t think they will.” Gordon said, getting up and walking over to Dr. Coomer. He placed a “hand” on his shoulder and Dr. Coomer tensed.

“Dr. Coomer, you’re fine, okay? You’re safe. Nothing here will hurt you… we’re all alone, just you, me, and the team. No military, no aliens, no nothing. I promise I will protect you.”

Dr. Coomer nodded slowly.

“You still wary?” Gordon asked.

Dr. Coomer looked away from the real danger right in front of him. “N-no. Um. Thank you, Gordon.”

“Great.” Gordon said, stepping back. “Alright, gang, let’s get some shut-eye!”

Bubby turned to Dr. Coomer to do something,  _ say _ something, before the game froze, and then they felt themselves get torn apart, atom by atom.


	2. Something Old, Someone New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The science team re-meets "Gordon Freeman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rewrote this so many fucking times just take it bro it's a bit choppy but w/e!!! hope u still enjoy
> 
> //tw for... maybe unreality? It's video game shit so yknow

When they next opened their eyes, they were in the exact same spot as before. The game was loading up, and they could see things being generated in, including the player. Gordon, fully realized, flashed before their eyes before his body quickly returned to that of an armless phony.

Dr. Coomer took a step forward, upon realizing he could move again, and looked around to the rest of the group.

“Everyone, this might be a good chance. I’m going to go into the code--”

Gordon stood up.

Dr. Coomer clamped his mouth shut, heart pounding as Gordon looked directly at him. A silence stretched on between the two, Gordon’s body completely still.

“... D-Dr. F-Freeman?” Tommy whispered. It seemed that everyone was on edge at the sudden movement.

Gordon didn’t respond.

“Do you think maybe he’s AFK?” Benrey asked.

“What?” Bubby furrowed his brows at him. Benrey sighed.

“Away From Keyboard, dude. Like, he loaded up the game, then walked away from his computer so he’s not here anymore?”

“OH!” Tommy exclaimed. “That’s! That’s good! Dr. Coomer, you should go into the--”

Suddenly, Gordon was ‘sitting’ again, and stretched out his arms, faking an exaggerated yawn. “Oooh… Man, uh, good morning, everybody! How’d you sleep?” He asked, looking up at them.

The entire team was frozen, staring down at him uneasily. Dr. Coomer gulped, realizing nobody was probably going to speak soon, so he might as well bite the bullet.

“Slept f-fine, Gordon!” He said encouragingly, giving Gordon a winning smile. “No problems here!”

“That’s great, Dr. Coomer.” Gordon said, standing up and looking around. “Wow, how come I’m always the last one to wake up?”

“Uh, heavy sleeper?” Benrey suggested.

Gordon nodded and smiled. “Probably. It’s been a tough couple of days, after all…” 

In the middle of speaking, Gordon looked down to his hand, which he flicked so the screen showed up again. His eyes skimmed over the text, and his smile slowly dropped into a frown. The end of his words trailed off and he stared down at the screen a bit longer before looking back up and around at the science team.

The science team stood still, unsure what the issue was, but hoping to god Gordon wouldn’t freeze the game again.

“Let’s get going, Mr. Freeman!” Tommy said abruptly, grabbing Gordon’s arm and making the screen vanish as he got close to him. Tommy gave him a bright smile and held his ‘hand’, pulling him towards the nearest exit. “I want some soda!”

Gordon didn’t move an inch. Tommy walked ahead a few steps, before realizing Gordon wasn’t following, and then looked back at him.

“Mr. Freeman?”

“Give me a second, Tommy, I just woke up.” Gordon said, in a voice just a little colder than usual. He almost sounded like a different person. 

The world froze.

Once again, dread filled the room as the AIs helplessly watched ‘Gordon’ look at his screen.

_ “What are you guys saying? Something about the AIs acting… weird?... What do you mean ‘they know’? They know what? That they’re in a game? Guys, that’s impossible. I’ve given absolutely zero hints that we’re in a video game-- and the AI, well, it’s not programmed to be self aware!” _

_ “... Okay, fine, I’ll look back at the recording for a second. Though, I really hope the AI isn’t actually acting weird. I might just have to reset the whole fuckin’ game, and we’ve already gotten  _ **_so_ ** _ far!” _

Gordon went silent, only the occasional noises of him shifting in his chair filling the room.

During this silence, the AI’s had time to think.

Benrey knew this was coming. With the team, he supposed he had a little bit of hope left in him, but that was quickly squashed when Gordon froze the game and began talking about resets, just like he predicted. 

Hope was for the weak. If you hoped for something and you got it, it would just be expected. If you hoped for something and you didn’t, well, you’d just feel soul-crushing disappointment. Like he did now.

Better to live in ignorance than die in fear, he supposed. 

Tommy liked Dr. Freeman. Even when it was revealed he wasn’t Dr. Freeman, he still liked him. Sure, he was scary, and unknowable, and had god-like powers, but… he seemed like he had good intentions. He was still the guy he had been travelling with this whole time, after all!

Turned out Benrey was right, though. This person, whoever they were, didn’t care about them. He was only using Tommy for his amusement, and the minute they did anything out of line, their memories would be erased. Maybe  _ they themselves  _ would be erased, and replaced with new, better, AIs. 

He missed the old Gordon.

Bubby liked to think he was brave and would go up against anything if it threatened him. This past day proved just how wrong he was about himself. He was a coward. Sure, with his friends, he could stand up to aliens and the military, but some other dimensional being with the power to kill him with the hit of a button? No way.

As this realization sunk in, though, the despair slowly got overtaken by sudden determination. He might be scared, but Dr.  _ FUCKING  _ Bubby wasn’t going out without a fight. 

The minute Gordon let them go, he was gonna let him have it.

Coomer, if he could, would be shaking tremendously.  _ How could they be so stupid!?  _ They’d completely forgotten about Gordon’s little spies, watching their every move, and the fact they were being recorded! Now, Gordon was going to reset them, and all of their progress, all their memories and friendships, were going down the drain.

Oh, how he wished he could look at Bubby one last time, give Tommy a hug and a soda, apologize to Benrey for being so crass earlier. But, sadly, he could not.

Just the same as Bubby, though, he could feel determination building in his gut. This might be the last chance he had to do something-- to save his friends.

He had to take that chance.

Gordon’s microphone clicked back on.

_ “Holy shit. You guys were right! They know! I don’t know how they know, but they know… I mean, I guess I noticed something was off, but... I didn’t know it was this bad. I guess I should… reset? Or, like, uh.” _

_ “...” _

_ “Man, what a bummer, right? Seriously, I liked these guys! I mean, yeah, they were a little much, but that’s what made it fun! Now I gotta… damn.” _

Gordon sighed heavily.

_ “Okay, I’m just gonna unpause and see what happens. Maybe we can talk it out? I dunno. Wish me luck. I really don’t want to delete them… Oh, by the way, uh, I'm pausing the stream, too. See y'all when I get this figured out." _

The world unfroze.

Immediately, Bubby dove for Gordon, screaming bloody murder as the rest of the science team caught onto his plot and also descended upon him. Gordon fought against them, shouting out a tirade of curses, but it was no use. They grappled onto where his arms would be, found solid matter, and held. 

Bubby looked up to Coomer.

“Let’s get this fucker out of our friend.”

Dr. Coomer nodded, shutting his eyes and repeating what he did a few nights ago. The world went black, and Dr. Coomer ragdolled onto the ground.

“What the hell’s going on!??!” Gordon shouted. “I seriously can’t move!”

“GOOD!” Tommy snarled. “You-- you BODY-SNATCHER!”

_ “What!?”  _ Gordon exclaimed in confusion. 

“You stole Gordon from us!” Bubby barked, slapping Gordon across the face. “And you were about to kill us! I’m not going down without a fight!”

“Yeah.” Benrey said. “Kinda fucked up.”

“What the hell are you guys talking about!?” Gordon demanded.

“We know you’re a player, Gordon!” Tommy scowled. “You don’t have to lie to us anymore! We know you’re just using us!”

“Just using you!?” Gordon furrowed his brows. “But--”

The world flashed black again, Dr. Coomer stood up and over Gordon’s body. Gordon was silent for a moment, then his body began to glitch. Tommy, Bubby, and Benrey all backed away immediately as Gordon’s body convulsed.

“What’s happening? Is- is it working?” Tommy asked, looking up at Coomer. Coomer nodded silently, continuing to watch.

Gordon's body glitched rapidly before their eyes, convulsing and contorting.  The world began to blur and twist, flickering between their fake vision of a perfectly detailed world, and the real version full of pixels. 

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

Gordon, looking just like how he did at the beginning, laid on the ground.

Coomer was the first one to step forward, kneeling by Gordon’s side. He watched him for a moment, before grinning.

“Gentlemen, I believe we finally did it! We banished the player and got back Gordon!”

Bubby, Tommy, and Benrey all crowded around Gordon’s model. Bubby furrowed his brows skeptically, Tommy smiled, hope in his eyes, and Benrey stared down at him intently, hoping despite himself that Gordon had actually returned.

A few moments passed, and Dr. Coomer’s smile slowly dropped.

“Um. Gordon…?” Dr. Coomer asked tentatively, putting out a hand and attempting to rest it on Gordon’s chest. His hand went right through him, and he pulled it back like it had hurt.

“What…?” He muttered to himself, staring down at him. “... Gordon…? Y-you are here now, aren’t you?”

No response.

“Gordon…?” Dr. Coomer asked again, trying to put his hand on him, but phasing through him again. He felt the backs of his eyes sting, and he pulled back a sob.

Bubby turned away from Gordon’s model, pulling his knees to his chest and putting his head in his crossed arms. 

“Give it up, Coomer. He’s dead.”

Dr. Coomer gaped at Bubby. “No! No, he’s not! He’s just…”

He looked back down at Gordon’s lifeless model.

“...”

“M-maybe he just doesn’t know how to move!” Tommy chimed in optimistically. “I mean, think about it, if he’s been possessed this whole time… maybe he just doesn’t know how to move on his own!”

Dr. Coomer smiled. “Yes! Yes, that’s it! Brilliant idea, Tommy!”

He looked down at Gordon, gently leaning over him so Gordon could see his face.

“Gordon, I know you’ve been unable to move yourself for a long time, but… you’re free now. You can do whatever you please! If- if you can hear me, move something. Anything. A finger, perhaps?”

Benrey watched Gordon’s hands.

They were flat palms. They didn’t move.

Benrey frowned. “Um, Coomer--”

“Sh! Give him time.” Dr. Coomer said, looking back to Gordon.

Silence filled the air.

“... M-maybe you gotta put the AI back in him?” Tommy asked. “I mean, for the player to control him, he must have removed the AI!”

Dr. Coomer perked up. “Another brilliant idea, Tommy! You’re on  _ fire _ today!”

Tommy smiled nervously. “Thank you…”

Bubby sighed as Coomer ragdolled.

A few minutes later, Dr. Coomer came back again, looking disheartened.

“So?” Tommy asked.

“... I couldn’t find it.” Dr. Coomer said, sitting down. He ran a hand through his graying hair, letting out a shaky sigh. “I looked through every file, every line… but I didn’t see a single thing labelled as Gordon’s AI. A-and I know what you’re thinking: maybe his AI was renamed to something else! I thought of that. So I looked at  _ our _ AIs, as well as some other underdeveloped AIs. They were all a certain file type. So, I tried to look just for that file type. Nothing.”

“But--” Tommy began, before Gordon suddenly sat up. 

The group screamed, backing away. Dr. Coomer beamed and dove for him, enveloping him in a big hug.

“Oh, Gordon! You moved!!! I’m so happy… you really scared me for a moment there!” He said, looking up at Gordon’s face.

Gordon glanced down at him, face blank. Slowly, he got up, leaving Dr. Coomer behind. He brushed off his front and cleared his throat.

“... Hi.” He greeted, in the same voice as before.

Bubby, Tommy, and Benrey took a step back, on guard now. Dr. Coomer didn’t seem to mind and just hugged Gordon again.

“Hello, Gordon!”

Gordon smiled nervously down at Dr. Coomer, eyes having a tinge of sadness to them. He patted Dr. Coomer’s back and sighed heavily.

“So… um. That was very impressive, Dr. Coomer.”

“What?” Dr. Coomer looked up. “Oh! You-- ah, you mean when I got rid of that horrible demon and brought  _ you _ back? Yes, very impressive!”

“I don’t think he’s gone.” Benrey said, rubbing his arm uncomfortably and looking up at Gordon. Gordon looked away.

“... What do you mean?” Dr. Coomer asked, looking to Benrey, then back to Gordon. His eyes shone, full of fragile hope.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Coomer.” Gordon said. “I’m, um, still me. Gordon isn’t he--”

Dr. Coomer slammed his fists into Gordon’s face, sending him flying back. He flexed his muscles and growled.  **_“GET OUT!”_ **

Gordon sat up calmly, before being rushed by Dr. Coomer again. Dr. Coomer pounded his fists into Gordon again and again, roaring and commanding him to get out of his friend’s body. 

When the dust settled, Dr. Coomer was panting, and Gordon was completely unaffected.

“What?” Dr. Coomer frowned. “How did you--  **_YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE GONE!”_ **

Gordon gave him a sympathetic glance. “Coomer, I’m in god-mode. You can’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”

Dr. Coomer growled and reared back his fist for another round, before Tommy put his hand gently on his shoulder. Tommy shook his head and sighed. 

“It’s not worth it, Dr. Coomer… he can’t be killed. I don’t think… I don’t think Gordon’s coming back.”

“IF HE RE-SPAWNS HE MIGHT!”

“But you heard him! He’s, uh, a god! So he can’t die.”

Gordon snoofed. “Well, um, I could disable god-mode, if it helps… then you could kill me.”

Dr. Coomer nodded. “I would like that, whoever you are.”

Gordon nodded, pressing buttons on a menu that the team couldn’t see before he stood up, arms out.

“Okay, give me your bes--”

Dr. Coomer obliterated him in one punch. Gordon ragdolled, his body slumped in the corner. Dr. Coomer huffed, his muscles shrinking again. 

“There!”

Gordon reappeared in the spot he was before, and the corpse disappeared. The science team looked at him expectantly, but he only gave them a shy glance back and shrugged. 

“Sorry, still here.”

Dr. Coomer whined, falling to his knees. “Goddamnit…”

Tommy knelt down beside him, wrapping his arm around Dr. Coomer. Bubby watched the scene and then marched up to Gordon, pulling out a gun and pressing it into Gordon’s jaw.

“Alright, well, if we can’t kill you, might as well get some information out of you.” He snarled. “Tell us your name.”

“Oh.” Gordon said dumbly, staring down at the gun. He sat down on the ground, joined by Benrey and Bubby.

“My real name?” Gordon asked.

“Yes!” Bubby barked, jabbing the gun at him.

“Wilson.”

“Wil… son…” Bubby narrowed his eyes. 

“Shit name.” Benrey said.

Wilson chuckled. “Says the guy named Benrey.”

“You shut your mouth!” Bubby exclaimed. “ _We’re_ the ones doing the talking! Stop being buddy-buddy!”

Wilson put up his hands and nodded silently. 

“Good. You know your place.” Bubby said cockily. Wilson rolled his eyes.

Benrey scooted forward, staring Wilson down

“So,  _ Wilson _ , why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” Wilson asked, tilting his head.

“This.” Benrey scowled. “Toying with us. Pretending to be Gordon.  _ Stealing _ Gordon’s  _ body _ .”

Wilson nodded. “Oh… I see… Um, well… I had to pretend to be Gordon Freeman for _your_ sakes. I read that, if the AI’s learn they’re in a video game, they could break, and then the game would shut down! I just didn’t want you guys to, y’know, break like that.”

Benrey and Bubby exchanged suspicious glances. Bubby hardened his gaze at Wilson.

“And stealing Gordon’s body?”

“Oh, I didn’t, um, steal it.” Wilson stuttered. “It was given to me! Because I’m the player?”

“Given!?” Bubby spat. “Bullshit, ‘given’! What? Did you and Gordon have a little chat and he just  _ decided _ to get  _ possessed _ !”

Wilson frowned, thinking something over for a moment, before replying. 

“Gordon doesn’t exist.”

Bubby and Benrey went silent.

Dr. Coomer and Tommy, who had been eavesdropping, turned their full attention to him.

Bubby was the first to break out of his surprise. “Oh, shut up. Yes he does. I can see his body right in front of me.”

Wilson sighed. “Listen, guys, since Gordon is the main character, he’s controlled by the player. It would make no sense to have him as an AI. He doesn’t exist.”

“What?” Bubby furrowed his brows. “Uh-”

“Oh.” Benrey frowned. “... So…”

Benrey trailed off, putting his head in his hands as it sunk in.

“Bullshit!” Dr. Coomer called. “Gordon  _ does _ exist! Why would he have a body if that were the case!?”

“I just explained that!” Wilson countered. “Gordon is controlled by the player. Think of it as if  _ you _ were the one playing the video game. If you were playing a video game, controlling the player character on screen, and suddenly the player character just started doing things that you weren't telling them to do, that would suck! So, no AI.”

Dr. Coomer narrowed his eyes. “...”

“C-can we at least double check?” Tommy asked. “Please, Wilson? We just want our friend back… He doesn’t even have to, um, be in your body! O-or maybe you could possess another one for a bit?”

Wilson was about to correct him about Gordon again, before just resigning and nodding. “Sure. Do whatever you want."

Dr. Coomer, looking less stressed, stood and went into the games code again. Gordon’s body ragdolled on the ground, and Wilson was seemingly gone.

Benrey, Bubby, and Tommy sat around while Dr. Coomer looked through the games files. A few minutes later, Dr. Coomer reappeared, looking haggard. Tommy opened his mouth to greet him, but Dr. Coomer spoke first.

“I tried something. I hope it works.”

Tommy furrowed his brows, again trying to speak, but Gordon’s body suddenly standing up startled him. 

“Wilson?” Benrey asked.

Gordon didn’t respond to that. He stood in place, blinking and occasionally glancing around.

“Gordon?” Tommy tried, standing up and walking over to him. Gordon looked to Tommy, noticed his presence, and then said in Barney’s voice:

“Sorry, doc.”

He backed away, then resumed just standing there.

Tommy stared wide eyed for a moment before looking back at Dr. Coomer. 

“What did you  _ do _ ?”

“I tried to put one of the AI’s into him… to see if maybe it was his?” Dr. Coomer shrugged. 

“What the fuck!” Bubby shouted. “You just possessed him again!”

Dr. Coomer pulled his hands through his hair and groaned loudly. “I know, I know! But I was running out of options! We might as well try everything while Wilson is away!”

“... Good point.” Tommy said. Bubby didn’t seem convinced. 

Tommy looked back to Gordon and walked up to him again. Gordon glanced at him and smiled. “Catch me later, I’ll buy you a beer.”

Tommy bit his lip. “Gordon? Are you… in there?”

“Catch me later, I’ll buy you a beer.”

“Um, th-thank you, but--”

“Sorry, doc.” He said, moving away from Tommy again.

Tommy looked back at Dr. Coomer. “Dr. Coomer, I-I don’t think it worked…”

“I can see that, Tommy.” Dr. Coomer sighed. “Alright, give me a minute.”

Dr. Coomer ragdolled again. A few minutes later, Gordon did the same, letting out a generic grunt. 

Dr. Coomer reappeared again, looking nervous. 

“I, uh,”

Gordon stood up, doing the same standing and looking around animation as before.

“For fucks sakes, did you just possess him again!?” Bubby scolded.

Dr. Coomer gave him an awkward smile and shrugged. “The last one was a guard, but Gordon is a scientist? So…”

Bubby put his head in his hands. “Just stop. We’re not getting him back.”

Dr. Coomer frowned. “Oh, come now! We can’t give up that easily!”

“I think we can.” Benrey added in. “I mean, what Wilson said makes sense. Why would you need an AI for a player character? AIs only go in NPCs, and Gordon… is a PC. So…”

“But what if he was lying!” Dr. Coomer argued. “I  _ remember _ Gordon! I remember working with him!”

“They’re probably fucking fake!” Benrey snapped. “Just give up! We’re in a video game, nothing matters, Wilson’s gonna reset us, _whatever!”_

The science team stared at him. Benrey huffed and looked down. “Just-- whatever. Get that AI out of Gordon and let’s move on.”

Dr. Coomer stared at him for a moment longer before conceding and ragdolling again. Gordon did the same and moments later, Dr. Coomer was back. He turned towards Gordon limp body and knelt down, speaking to him.

“Wilson… I suppose you can come back now.”

Gordon twitched, his body flashing into the deconstructed one for a moment before he sat up and looked at Dr. Coomer. He gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

“Dr. Coomer… I just saw everything. I’m so sorr--”

“Save it.” Dr. Coomer said, clipped, and smacked away his hand. Wilson was taken aback as Dr. Coomer returned to the science team.

Benrey looked over to Wilson, analyzing him.

“Um.” Wilson twiddled his thumbs. “If it helps: I also looked around in the files. Didn’t, uh, find anything. A-and I looked up stuff online.”

“I don’t believe you.” Dr. Coomer grumbled.

“Oh.” Wilson frowned. “... W-well, I can tell you for certain I won’t reset you unless you want me to. That would be cruel.”

“As cruel as taking away our friend?” Dr. Coomer snapped. Bubby pat his back.  “Dr. Coomer, please.” He consoled. Dr. Coomer sighed, giving up for the moment.

Tommy looked back to the science team, then over at Wilson. Wilson looked like he felt guilty: head down, twiddling his thumbs, playing with menus… Occasionally he’d glance up at Dr. Coomer or Benrey, trying to get a read on them. 

Tommy, despite himself, felt bad for Wilson. He turned away from him, trying to suppress his sympathy, but it just kept gnawing at his mind. Wilson was probably just some kid who wanted to play a fun video game. Now, Tommy didn't understand everything about video games, but he knew that if he started playing, say, a game of chess, and suddenly the pieces were talking to him and blaming him for something he might not have done, he'd be in a very awkward position. 

So he stood up and sat down by Wilson. Curse his empathetic nature.

“Hi.” Tommy said. “My name’s Tommy, but, uh, you know that already, right?” He held out his hand. “We, uh, were never formally introduced!”

Wilson chuckled and took his hand. “We- we were, actually. We met in the breakroom, remember?”

Tommy’s eyebrows raised. “That was you?”

“It was all me.” Wilson said. 

Tommy nodded slowly, letting go of Wilson’s hand. That certainly changed things. “... Okay, well, I… still don’t know much about you! Considering you’ve, been, um, pretending to be Gordon this whole time.”

“Well, what do you want to know?” Wilson asked.

Tommy thought. “Hm... What’s your favourite, uh, soda flavour?”

“Oh!” Wilson chuckled. “Uh… I like Sunkist a lot.”

Tommy gasped. “That’s the name of my dog!”

“You have a dog?” Wilson’s eyebrows raised. “That’s, uh, cool!”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah! I made her! She’s immortal and the best dog!"

Gordon laughed. “Aw!!! I love that! I have a cat, myself. She’s really energetic since she’s only 8 months old.”

“Aww!” Tommy smiled. “That’s cute! What’s her name?”

“Her name’s Cinnamon! ‘Cause her fur is orange and brown-ish.”

Tommy felt more at ease now. Wilson didn’t seem so bad… He liked getting to know people, and he figured he might as well get to know the person who had control over their whole existence. Even if he could  _ feel _ the glares he was getting for being buddy-buddy from the science team. Maybe he could play it off as gathering information later. Then again, that was half of his actual intentions. 

“So, how old are you?” He asked.

Wilson frowned. “Uh, I don’t know if I wanna tell you that…”

“That’s fine. Just tell me if you’re older or younger than 18. I, uh, need to know whether or not I can swear?” 

Well, it wasn’t technically a lie. He wanted to know Wilson’s age for a lot of reasons: mainly to see if he should be getting as much sympathy as Tommy was giving him. But also what kinds of things he could say to Wilson. He didn’t want to be making dirty jokes around a fifteen year old.

“I’m older than 18, but younger than, uh, 22. How’s about that?” Wilson answered nervously. 

“Oh.” Tommy nodded. “Okay! Huh, you’re younger than I thought… I’m 36! I’m gonna be 37 in a few days, though. M-my dad was gonna set up this huge birthday p-party at Chuck. E. Cheese’s.”

He frowned. 

“B-but I guess that’ll never happen now, huh…?”

Wilson gasped softly. “Oh! No, it’s okay! We can still go! Or, uh, you guys can. I don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Tommy was about to respond when Benrey suddenly spoke up. Sometime in their conversation, he had joined them. His knees were up against his chest, and he was staring at Wilson from under the shade of his helmet.

“Hey, Wilson. I wanna know somethin’.”

“Uh, okay. Shoot.” Wilson said, turning to him.

“How do you… how are you here? Like, are you playing on a- a Playstation or, like, a PC or…”

“Oh, I’m in VR.” He answered easily. 

“...” Benrey tilted his head. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Me neither, Wilson." Tommy said. 

“You know what a Playstation is but not VR?” Wilson asked.

Benrey shrugged.

Wilson hummed. “Okay, well, VR stands for Virtual Reality. Basically, I have this, uh, headset on, and two controllers in my hand. So every time I move my head or my hands, that’s what’s happening in real life, too.”

He raised his hand and waved it around. “So, I’m doing this in real life.”

“Are you sitting in real life?” Tommy asked.

“No. I’m standing.” Wilson said. “I don’t control the legs. It’s like, a uh, a puppet but you only have strings to the hands and head.”

Benrey scowled. “I don’t like you comparing Gordon to a puppet.”

Wilson paled. “Oh, sorry.”

Tommy thought back to the deconstructed form of Gordon.

“So… the controllers and headset… is that what we saw earlier?”

“What?” Wilson asked.

“Earlier, the game glitched, so we saw you, but different. That’s how we knew you weren’t Gordon.” Tommy clarified. “You had floating black things for hands, no arms… and a black square in front of your eyes.”

“Whoa.” Wilson gaped. “Uh, yeah! I guess so… that’s what they look like.”

“Huh.” Tommy hummed.

“Wilson.” Bubby said coldly, walking up to their group. Everyone looked up. Bubby cleared his throat. 

“Since you can control our files, and this game… I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want to get out of Black Mesa.”

“Oh.” Wilson said. “Sure. We can finish the game and--”

“No.” Bubby hissed. “Out of Black Mesa and into  _ another _ game. This one sucks.”

“What!?” Wilson gaped. “I- I don’t think that’s possible!”

Bubby glanced back at Dr. Coomer. Dr. Coomer got up and joined their group. 

“Wilson, I’m sure it is. If we are just files, you can import those files into other games, can’t you?”

“I don’t know shit about computers, dude.” Wilson admitted. “I’d probably end up destroying you! I couldn’t live with that guilt. I--” He ran his hands through his hair. “Jesus Christ, what game would I even put you into…?”

“How do you _not_ know shit about computers!?” Bubby griped. “You work at  _ Black Mesa! _ And you have an MIT degree! Don’t you have to be smart to have those!?”

Wilson gave him a deadpan look. “Bubby, that’s  _ Gordon’s _ backstory. I’m not even through my first year of college!”

“Wh--” Bubby blinked. “Oh, goddamnit! Is  _ everything  _ you told us a lie!?”

“Pretty much!” 

Bubby glared at him. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Gentlemen, calm down!” Dr. Coomer said, putting a hand on Bubby's shoulder. “Listen, Wilson, I can help you with the computer. Please, just let us out of here.”

Wilson bit his lip. “Are you sure? I mean, uh, this game came out in… like, the 90’s? Do you even know how 2020 laptops work?”

Dr. Coomer sighed. “Wilson, I was just  _ in _ your computer.”

“Ah, true.” Wilson admitted. “... Mm… okay, but I’m gonna make a backup of your files, just in case. And- you all have to agree that if you get destroyed or corrupted, you won’t blame me. Please.”

“I’m not agreeing to that.” Bubby crossed his arms. “If you destroy me, that’s your fault.”

“Yeah.” Tommy agreed.

“Fucking fail.” Benrey said.

Wilson sighed. “Oh, man…”

Dr. Coomer patted his back. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment, it motivates me to keep going :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> also my tumblr is space-is-the-place2 if you want to message me about this there. there's also fanart on my blog of this fic soooo


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